and "dry 'zrrt'"; sometimes they are extended as "stuttering rattles". Subspecies A. a. alticola has less rufous on the breast than the nominate and almost no green on the tail. A. a. azuay differs the most from the nominate. Its bill has less red on the maxilla, it has a nearly pure white belly with rufous only on the lower flanks, and its uppertail coverts and tail are paler rufous with little green. A. a. dumerilii is somewhat smaller than the nominate, with a white chin, throat, and center of the belly. A. a. leucophoea looks almost the same as demerillii but has bronze-green upperparts. A. a. caeruleigularis has a glittering violet-blue throat instead of the nominate's green. Distribution and habitat The amazilia hummingbird is found in western Ecuador and Peru. It does not migrate but does make some elevational dispersal after the breeding season. The six subspecies are distributed thus: A. a. alticola, Andes of southern Ecuador's El Oro, Loja, and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces A. a. azuay, south-central Ecuador, in the Jubones River basin of Azuay and Loja provinces A. a. dumerilii, Andean lowlands from western Ecuador into Tumbes Department of northwestern Peru A. a. leucophoea, northwestern Peru between Piura and Ancash departments A. a. amazilia, western Peru in Lima and Ica departments A. a. caeruleigularis, the Nazca valley in southwestern Peru The amazilia hummingbird's habitat is different from that of its close relatives in the genus Amazilia: It is a bird of open semi-arid to arid landscapes and is rarely found deep in forested areas. These landscapes include scrublands, thorn forest, xerophytic steppe, and desert. The species is also common in cultivated areas and city parks and gardens. The nominate subspecies is found between sea level and about . Subspecies dumerilii, leucophaea, and alticola are also found in the sub-montane zone in savanna and at the edges and clearings of cloudforest. In elevation they mostly range between , though leucophaea reaches as high as . A. a. caeruleigularis is apparently restricted to near-desert between . Behavior Feeding The amazilia hummingbird forages for nectar at a variety of plants with medium-length flowers; some examples include Erythrina, Psittacanthus, Salvia, and Justicia. Males are territorial, defending feeding feeding patches from other hummingbirds and bananaquits (Coereba flaveola). In addition to nectar it feeds on small insects and spiders. A time-budget study in Lima, Peru, showed that the species spent 80% of its time